Order of Priests
"We must all have Faith." The Order of Priests are the shepherds of the flock, the guardians of religious institutions and the keepers of the old ways. The members of the Priestly Order are considered by most to be the premiere members of the Ecclesiastical Orders, and their influence on society is considerable. Priests draw power from Faith itself, and they can call out to the heroes of Faith, the Saints, to give them aid and succor in times of distress. Aspect of God: Founder of the Tribe AKA: The Priestly Order, the Ecclesiastical Order, the Keepers of Faith, the Altar Boys. Paradigm: The Church (Saints). Priest Degrees Facts: -Priests know God as the Founder of the Tribe and their essence is derived from a particular Tribe, it's history, tradition and theology. -While the Priests in our world come from many backgrounds, they are most strongly associated with the Abrahamic faiths which have dominated Western Civilization. -The Priests pretty much have a presence among the leadership of all the major Tribes. Certainly all the organized ones at least. Rectors, ministers, rabbis, imams, whatever title they have, there's more than a few Priests who share that title with them. -When a Priest is born from a Tribe, it is in his nature to preserve that faith community. The benefit of such a mentality is that Priests tend to be disciplined or at least more orderly than most people (and more connected as well). The down side is that to preserve usually translates as rejecting anything new or innovative since change is the ideological opposite of preservation. -Within a group of Adepts, Priests tend to be the glue that holds everyone together, playing both advocate and confidant. Priests pride themselves on being at the center of their social circle. -The Order of Priests is the premiere member of the Ecclesiastical Orders and the others often look to them for decisions on important topics. Of course, this position is contested by the Order of Infinity, but the Priests believe, since they were designed to be carriers of Faith, that it is His intention they be the premiere Ecclesiastical Order. -Because of their origins, Priest Adepts gain Church Lore more quickly and more easily than other Adepts. Keeping the Old Ways: The Ecclesiastical Order is the preserver of the Old Ways, both for their faith community specifically and for society at large. After the fall of the Roman Empire, when Europe was plunged into the darkness of the early medieval age, it was often the monks and priests who worked tirelessly to locate and preserve works of antiquity. This keeping of knowledge comes naturally to Priests because so much of their nature is geared towards conservatism. However, Priests exist to preserve the religious knowledge of their Tribe first and foremost, so anything preserved by them will probably show a little bias because of it. Because of the Priestly Order's penchant for conservation and the generations of built up knowledge within the Order, Priest Adepts can gain the Old Ways Lore more easily than most Adepts. This is especially true of knowledge of religion, theology, spiritualism, superstition, or local urban legends. Shield of Faith: It's no small thing to say that the Order of Priests draw their power from the concept of Faith itself. The Priestly Order wields Faith like a weapon, or a tool, defeating the enemies of their faith and building up their own community in the process. Faith as a source of power is particularly well-suited to defense. Great saints and heroes down through time have harnessed their Faith as a bulwark against the forces of Darkness, repelling demonic attacks and witch's hexes with nothing but their steadfast belief in God. Remember to play this up if you're role-playing as a Priestly Adept. Their powers of Faith will often mitigate the supernatural powers of their foes, and it can turn even their spindly little churches or temples into strongholds against the supernatural. Suffering & Perfection: The trials of the Saints have taught the Priests that part of having Faith means weathering suffering and sacrifice. Depending on the particular theology of the Tribe in which they reside, a Priest may simply see a period of suffering as a chance to demonstrate their Faith for all to see. Or they could read way too much into it and see it as a sign of God's anger, or a blessing, or a test of faith for greater Providence later, etc. The point here is this, that Priests tend to accept suffering more readily and with more vigor than others would. This is because Priests tend to view the issue of suffering entirely within the context of their Tribe's teachings. This isn't to say that Priests actually enjoy suffering (although some of the far-out ones might) but they do, as a whole, accept the pain of life with much more rigor than normal. Spreading the Faith: Priests are designed to be social-animals. They operate at the center of a faith community, and through this the wider community of the world itself. The urge to evangelize varies from one religion to another, but suffice it to say that Priests Hagiography: Institutes of Religion: Guardians of Sanctuary: Corruption Within: Church Scandals: Saints & Miracles: Patron Saints: Everyday Saints: It's easy to stereotype every Priest Adept as a cleric of some popular religion, but while religious leaders do predominant among the Order they are by no means uniform across it. Imagine a New York taxi driver, probably an immigrant, who prays often to a popular ethnic Saint during his travels. If he were inducted into the Order, what kind of Priest would he look like!? Sometimes, the best Priests in stories are the odd-ball, unexpected ones. Just as Patron Saints are often highly individualistic and colorful, so are the individuals within the Order itself. Veneration of Saints: Priests are a Petitioner Order and can call out to the souls of former men and women of faith. Dubbed Saints by mainstream Monotheism, Priest Adepts can gain new powers and favors by associating with particular Saints. Veneration of Saints is looked down upon by other Adepts, usually those of a Protestant or Atheist persuasion. Many see it as a form of idolatry. However, the Priests respond that they do not worship but simply venerate the Saints the way someone could show respect to a living soul for their accomplishments in life. Saints are not made equal to God, only seen as brothers and sisters in the faith who have crossed over to the other side. *Gaining new powers will require repeated acts of devotion, prayer, and meditation on the life and works of a particular Saint. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Factions: Factions within the Order of Priests tend to be based on specific Tribes (ie, Roman Catholicism, Suffi Islam, Hasidic Judaism, etc.). While there exist some Factions that transcend Tribal lines, they are often temporary alliances between these groups to combat a common foe or social problem. It's no small iron that the Priestly Order, renowned for its social activism and calls for harmony, is itself often bitterly divided along lines of dogmatic belief. Ca References: -https://www.pinterest.com/benjaminstyles7/order-of-priests/ -http://powerlisting.wikia.com/wiki/Supernatural_Priest_Training -https://bible.org/seriespage/priests -http://www.openbible.info/topics/priest -http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12406a.htm -http://www.eldritchpress.orCategory:Church Category:Ghosts Of Catholicism Category:New World Order